Various questions

Question
Hi! :-) I was reading your answers and saw that you tend to be more thorough, and appear to enjoy talking about ferrets :) So I have a couple of questions. First off- We have three ferrets, a six year old sable female, Bebez, a VERY LARGE one year old dark eyed white, with silver stripe, Oscar, and an 11 month old silver mitt, Lily.  We have a very large four story cage with a litter box on every floor and bedding covering throughout the cage as well, and the two younger ferrets just refuse to use the litter boxes. We have corner boxes and use non clumping litter, but they almost instantly dig it out and do their business on top of the litter on the floor, no matter how many times they are corrected, I stand and watch them, grab them up and put them back in the box before they do anything thing, they look at me like i'm crazy and go back to the floor. Is there such a thing as an untrainable ferret? I've never had problems quite like this with any others, some it has taken awhile but they still got the hang of it. Bebez, our older ferret is extremely potty trained, and very very rarely has accidents, she has claimed the top floor as her own and it's almost as if she warns them about messing in her room. She will occasionally let them sleep up there with her but if they even try to back up on her floor, she will tackle them and let them know not to. Lily, is not so bad at it, she will use it atleast 30% of the time, but in my experience females are cleaner than males. But Oscar, never. I feel that his bad habits are rubbing off on her as well. Is there anything I can do? I have thought about separating him from the others for awhile so Lily can get the hang of using the box more by watching Bebez, but it would be heartbreaking to see them separated at sleep time, as they are very close. Sometimes Lily does not let him sleep with her but he will stand next to her and wait for her to fall asleep then sneak in the hammock with her. I've also heard of pads instead of litter and have thought about trying them but am a little skeptical.
 My other question is a behavioral issue.  Oscar is a very lovable sweet big guy. All in all he's a big baby. He loves to hop in my lap or get on my shoulders and curl up to sleep. I've socialized him since he was very young, took him everywhere with me, and let him play with other people (supervised) I know nothing has happened to him, because he never leaves my site around others, but the last few months, he won't let anyone else pick him up. He will play with Amy just by chasing her and letting her chase him, but if she tries to hold him he hisses at her and runs to me. Is he just limiting how close he will get to others or does he just not like them. I feel bad because Amy is a ferret lover to the extreme and we have owned many ferrets together, actually, she was the one who picked him out. Is there anything I can do to make him like her a little more? Is he jealous of her? Anyway I think thats all for now, sorry so long. :-)
 -waiting for your answer =-)  

Answer
Hi Lynze and Amy!

Thanks for your faith in my ability to help - now I hope I can! :-) I'll certainly give it my best effort....

When the triagle litterboxes were invented, everyone looked at how much more space it would leave in the cage and ran out and got one or more.  Surprisingly, probably only about one out of three ferrets will use a triangle shaped litterbox - the rest poop right in front of them no matter what you do.  So the first thing I would do is change the litterbox to the high-sided square or rectangle ones.

Secondly, just because they have associated their current litter with play up until now, set aside the litter you currently have been using, and buy any brand that you haven't used before - the best is Yesterday's News compressed paper pellet litter if you can (you can order it from The Ferret Store online and they will ship it right to your door if you can't get it locally).  You also might be able to find it under some other name, even sold as 'compressed newspaper litter for cats, but it will still be compressed newspaper......OR, you can even get wooden stove pellets (like people use in their wooden stoves in wintertime)from you local hardware supplier (CHEAP - wood pellets are about 1/10th the cost of the cheapest litter you'll find anywhere IF your ferrets will use it, so it's worth trying. Last time I bought it I think it was a 40 lb bag for $2.14 !!  

Anyway....put either wood or newspaper pellet litter into the rectangle litterboxes for an even bigger (and healthier for them) change. (Clay litter is not really good for ferrets; CLUMPING clay litter is life-threatening to ferrets and can cause intestinal blockages, so never use that)

You have now changed their 'play' area and they have NO IDEA what this new stuff is all about......so here's where you SHOW THEM what it is for.  From the litterboxes you removed from the cage, scoop out some NASTY wet and poopy litter and plop it right IN THE MIDDLE of the new litterbox with the new litter.    Then scatter blankies and toys all around the open areas around the litterbox.  Nobody wants to poop on their toys, and most ferrets won't dig in a poopy litterbox! :-)  Well, not usually anyway....there are always exceptions!

Give that a try and see if that doesn't solve problem on Day #1. IF it doesn't please write back and I'll brainstorm some more, but I'm betting it will work....just don't forget the fresh poopies in the new boxes just BEFORE they have access to the boxes so the smell is fresh (MESSAGE TO FERRET:  "EWWW, poopies! This must not be a play area, but looks like a good pooping place...somebody thought it was anyway!!")

With regards to Oscar, since it sounds like he has been used to being handled by multiple people and has done fine in the past, but is now exhibiting different behavior - I would suggest a vet visit. As a rule of thumb, ANY  change in behavior really needs a vet visit for a good check over.   I suspect that possibly *something* could be hurting him and he will let you hold him because you are his *always* mommy. It sounds like he is afraid of others hands actually being on him (pain?), since he will play chase with Amy, we know that he does know and like her.

You mention that he crawls up on your shoulder....has he ever fallen from there or any height higher than 12" or so? Could he have gotten caught on something in his cage or a toy, or when he was out playing? Could he have a partial intestinal blockage that hurts when he is picked up? You may want to (someday soon when it's quiet, he's sleepy, and there are no distractions) gently start at his head and massage the full length of his body, including legs, tail, feet. Gently feel around in his abdominal area for hard places (an intestinal blockage sometimes can be felt as a hardened area in the abdomen - sometimes only seen in an xray). Do this several times, each time with just a bit more pressure. See if you get a pain response (jerking away from you, nipping, wanting down immediately or hissing).   This is probably one of the first things a vet would do, but you can do this yourself and just see if you get a pain response anywhere at all...even check his toenails and toes. A broken toenail can cause a lot of pain - so it's really important to keep those nails trimmed short. I've heard of ferrets getting a toe nail caught in bedding and literally ripping a toe off, so I always preach toe nail clipping weekly to every 10 days at least.

If that overall body check doesn't reveal anything painful, he really will need to go to the vet for a more thorough exam, possibly a barium xray (they put a tiny bit of barium in some A/D food, the ferret gobbles it down and the vet takes xrays every 15 mins for an hour or so. This is the only way to be SURE there is no blockage.  He could even some bloodwork to see if why or IF he is not feeling well.

Ferrets hide their illnesses until they are so sick they can't stand up - often until an illness is so far along that it's too late to help them. It's up to us to watch for early signs such as changes in behavior such as you have described.  A ferret will run and play when a human would be laid up in bed crying in pain...so keep that in mind. Even the slightest pain reaction at all can be a totally broken bone, rib, spinal damage, etc. It's just amazing what these little guys endure without *obviously* complaining, but they will often show it in some very subtle way such as being less trusting of others or not wanting anyone other than mommy to hold him.

If he passes all his physical exams and you narrow this down to him just being a 'mommy's boy' in his old age, the best way to get a ferret to like someone is to give the person a bottle of Ferretone (if you mix is 50/50 with light extra virgin olive oil you can give them more at a time without worrying about Vitamin A overdose :-) and they like it just the same after it has been diluted....saves money too, not that Ferretone will break the bank, but you DO need to be careful about too much Vitamin A.  Diluted, the ferret can have about a teaspoon of Ferretone a day; which will make for one VERY happy ferret with a beautiful, soft and full coat.

It IS possible that Oscar is jealous - it wouldn't be the first time I've heard of that (one of mine won't let my husband get near me...but she has been that way since day 1, so it is not really comparable to the situation you are explaining to me!)  Sometimes, after we have tried everything and even the Ferretone doesn't work, it's just time to pick up a ferret who enjoys her company instead, but let's hope that you can figure out the reason and take care of it - it just could be a symptom of something you need to know about.

One other tip:  If you want, before you spend money on litterboxes, you could try cardboard boxes cut down to same size as a rectangle  litterbox would be and put the new litter and "Poop Surprise" in the middle. Once you are more confident that the higher sides and rectangle shape will work, you won't feel so bad spending the money on new litterboxes :-) p.s....don't forget to cut down the front so they can get in and out of the cardboard litterboxes if you do go that route temporarily.

I hope the suggestions work for you.  It sounds like your kids have a great home (always great to hear) and that you love them a lot.  IF any of the above doesn't work, or you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to write again.  Also, if you would, let me know how they do after the change and how Oscar's exam comes out?  Even though the things I have suggested are pretty much things that have been long 'tried and true' for MANY others in the past, it's good to hear if it worked out okay for you. So, I do hope to hear from you again, Lynze.

sincerely,
jacquie rodgers